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From: "Secretary, ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety" <secretary**At_Symbol_Here**DCHAS.ORG>
Subject: [DCHAS-L] Chemical Safety headlines from Google (13 articles)
Date: Wed, 1 Apr 2015 07:20:47 -0400
Reply-To: DCHAS-L <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**MED.CORNELL.EDU>
Message-ID: D9BDCCDF-9080-4977-9C9A-0BB87A89ABA0**At_Symbol_Here**dchas.org
Chemical Safety Headlines From Google
Wednesday, April 1, 2015 at 7:20:31 AM
A membership benefit of the ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety
All article summaries and tags are archived at http://pinboard.in/u:dchas
Table of Contents (13 articles)
SAFETY REFORM STALLING 2 YEARS AFTER WEST EXPLOSION
Tags: us_TX, public, follow-up, death, ag_chems, ammonium_nitrate
LEVITTOWN MAN SENTENCED FOR BLOWING ROOF OFF HIS OWN HOME
Tags: us_PA, public, follow-up, response, explosives, propane
GOVERNMENT ASKED TO BAN HOUSEHOLD PRODUCTS WITH HARMFUL CLASS OF CHEMICALS
Tags: public, discovery, environmental, toxics
FREEDOM, W.VA. SIGN AGREEMENT ON CHEMICAL SPILL SITE CLEANUP
Tags: us_WV, industrial, follow-up, environmental, other_chemical
SPILL LEADS TO HAZMAT RESPONSE
Tags: us_CA, industrial, release, response, acids
FIESTA TEXAS FINED FOR IMPROPER CHEMICAL STORAGE
Tags: us_TX, industrial, discovery, environmental, bleach, chlorine, sulfuric_acid
RIVERSIDE: LIQUID CHEMICAL NEAR JURUPA AVE. PROMPTS HAZMAT RESPONSE
Tags: us_CA, public, discovery, response, unknown_chemical
CRASH, CHEMICAL SPILL SHUT DOWN MEMORIAL BOULEVARD IN LAKELAND
Tags: us_FL, transportation, release, response, ag_chems, pesticides
MANCHESTER PRIVATE SCHOOL EVACUATED AFTER CHEMICAL ODOR SPREADS
Tags: us_CT, education, release, injury, other_chemical
CONVICTIONS, SENTENCES IN CHEMICAL DEVICE ATTACK UPHELD
Tags: us_AZ, public, follow-up, response, chlorine
LESSONS LEARNED DATABASE
Tags: us_WA, laboratory, discovery, environmental, radiation, uranium
CREW AIRLIFTED TO HOSPITAL AFTER LANDS' END CHEMICAL SPILL
Tags: United_Kingdom, transportation, release, injury, nitric_acid
FIRE AT EXXONMOBIL BEAUMONT CHEMICAL PLANT PUT OUT
Tags: us_TX, industrial, fire, response, unknown_chemical
---------------------------------------------
SAFETY REFORM STALLING 2 YEARS AFTER WEST EXPLOSION
Tags: us_TX, public, follow-up, death, ag_chems, ammonium_nitrate
Nearly two years after a fire set off a deadly ammonium nitrate explosion at the West Fertilizer Co., Texas businesses selling the chemical aren??t subject to any new laws, and only a handful store it in fireproof buildings as experts recommend, state officials said.
Now the window of opportunity for state-level reform of ammonium nitrate safety standards may be closing.
As the biennial legislative session heads toward the June finish line, the two bills targeting ammonium nitrate storage are in legislative limbo.
---------------------------------------------
LEVITTOWN MAN SENTENCED FOR BLOWING ROOF OFF HIS OWN HOME
Tags: us_PA, public, follow-up, response, explosives, propane
A 31-year-old man who blew the roof off his Bristol Township home with explosives was sentenced to six to 23 months in county prison Tuesday at the Bucks County Justice Center in Doylestown.
After hearing an argument claiming that the May 19 explosion at Thomas Piscione's home was an accident, Judge Wallace H. Bateman handed Piscione a time-served sentence, which ?? having served seven months in prison already ?? allowed Piscione to be immediately paroled.
Piscione was arrested and charged with risking a catastrophe after, according to court documents, emergency personnel responded to his Midwood Lane home in Levittown after neighbors reported an explosion in the house.
During Tuesday's hearing, county prosecutor Chris Rees told Bateman that the explosion, which originated in the fireplace, burst windows in the home and blew the roof off of the house.
"It lifted the roof off the house," said Rees.
According to court documents, the blast caused drywall nails to pop, which collapsed a portion of the ceiling and caused a flash flame from the fireplace that torched a nearby couch and damaged the living room.
When found after the blast, court documents say, Piscione, who was wearing shorts and a T-shirt and had black soot covering his face, told police that a propane tank had exploded.
Piscione later told police that he was a "chemical hobbyist" who accidentally detonated "exploding targets," court records say.
In court Tuesday, Piscione ?? who pleaded guilty in January ?? said he was an avid sportsman who enjoys fishing and target shooting and had purchased some "exploding targets."
These, Piscione said, he accidentally threw into his fireplace while burning up old mail.
"I knew they were dangerous and I should have been much more careful with them," said Piscione.
---------------------------------------------
GOVERNMENT ASKED TO BAN HOUSEHOLD PRODUCTS WITH HARMFUL CLASS OF CHEMICALS
Tags: public, discovery, environmental, toxics
While reform of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) is swirling in controversy, a targeted effort begins today to reduce the use of an entire class of harmful chemicals in everyday products.
For decades, regulators have been playing a dangerous game of toxic whack-a-mole: banning a toxic chemical only to have it replaced with a chemical cousin that turns out to be just as problematic after years of use. But today, a diverse coalition including firefighters, doctors, advocates for children with learning disabilities, scientists, and worker and consumer groups petitioned the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) to adopt regulations banning products containing any member of the class of organohalogen flame retardants in furniture, children??s products, mattresses and electronic enclosures. By seeking regulations addressing an entire class of intrinsically toxic chemicals in these uses, this petition aims to jump-start a more effective way to increase the chemical safety of household products.
The class of flame retardants known as organohalogens (because they all contain either chlorine or bromine bonded to carbon) has been associated with cancer, reduced sperm count, increased time to pregnancy, decreased IQ in children, impaired memory, learning deficits, hyperactivity, hormone disruption, and lowered immunity. Due to their chemical structure, organohalogen flame retardants tend to be very persistent in the environment and in our bodies.
Because of the failures of TSCA, new members of this class continue to be used at high levels in consumer products despite a deficit of safety data, putting our health and that of future generations at risk. In 2012, a toxicologist at the University of California, Riverside ?? Dr. David Eastmond, found that all 86 organohalogen flame retardants available on the market at the time of the study were either toxic or of high concern for human health.
---------------------------------------------
FREEDOM, W.VA. SIGN AGREEMENT ON CHEMICAL SPILL SITE CLEANUP
Tags: us_WV, industrial, follow-up, environmental, other_chemical
Freedom Industries and state regulators have signed an agreement for a cleanup of the site of a 2014 chemical spill into the Elk River.
The cleanup will be done through the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection's Voluntary Remediation Program.
The voluntary remediation agreement sets deadlines for Freedom to submit reports and work plans to the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection. The company's first deadline is April 20, when it must submit a report on an initial site investigation and interim measures.
A work plan for a human health and ecological risk assessment is due in the third quarter of 2015.
The January 2014 spill at a storage site in Charleston spurred a tap-water ban for 300,000 people for days.
---------------------------------------------
SPILL LEADS TO HAZMAT RESPONSE
Tags: us_CA, industrial, release, response, acids
The Tulare-Kings counties Hazardous Materials Emergency Response Team, Hazmat, responded to the Visalia Industrial Park Monday morning after employees from VSI Veterinarian Supply, Inc. spilled several gallons of cleaning acid.
The 30-gallon container was punctured by a forklift driver. About 15 gallons of the acid spilled on to the concrete inside the VSI warehouse. No one was injured in the spill.
The HazMat team is one of just a handful in the state that is eligible to respond to statewide emergencies.
---------------------------------------------
FIESTA TEXAS FINED FOR IMPROPER CHEMICAL STORAGE
Tags: us_TX, industrial, discovery, environmental, bleach, chlorine, sulfuric_acid
SAN ANTONIO - The Edwards Aquifer Authority is fining Six Flags Fiesta Texas $31,000 for improperly storing hundreds to thousands of gallons of bleach, chlorine and sulfuric acid.
The majority of the park sits atop the Edwards Aquifer Recharge Zone.
??The recharge zone is where the rain water filters down in through the surface into the aquifer,?? said EAA spokeswoman Terri Herbold. ??And just like that rainwater, chemicals can do that same thing.??
Inspectors discovered those chemicals were not stored in the required tertiary tanks.
"Basically, in layman's terms, it means three layers of protection," said Herbold.
---------------------------------------------
RIVERSIDE: LIQUID CHEMICAL NEAR JURUPA AVE. PROMPTS HAZMAT RESPONSE
Tags: us_CA, public, discovery, response, unknown_chemical
The discovery of a liquid chemical in an abandoned and mostly empty 275-gallon container prompted a hazardous materials investigation in Riverside, city fire officials say.
The container was reported about 10 a.m. Monday, March 30, on a sidewalk near the 6000 block of Jurupa Avenue, about a mile north of Riverside Municipal Airport.
"The hazardous materials team was able to determine that the chemical was a substance used in producing foam products," Battalion Chief Jeff DeLaurie said in a written statement. "It is unknown who left the container or why.
"The chemical was a very small quantity and did not pose a threat to the neighborhood."
---------------------------------------------
CRASH, CHEMICAL SPILL SHUT DOWN MEMORIAL BOULEVARD IN LAKELAND
Tags: us_FL, transportation, release, response, ag_chems, pesticides
LAKELAND | A minor traffic accident caused a major road closure Monday afternoon when about 60 gallons of chemicals were spilled onto the 1400 block of East Memorial Boulevard.
Lakeland police said Brett Ramsey of Winter Haven was traveling east on Memorial Boulevard in a 2007 Chevrolet pickup about 3 p.m. when his vehicle struck the rear driver's side of a 2004 Isuzu being driven by Christopher Hazelwood of Lakeland. The Isuzu is owned by Floralawn, a Lakeland-based lawn and pest company.
Police said there were no injuries in the accident. A Florida Department of Environmental Protection official said the spilled chemicals did not pose a serious health risk.
The impact ruptured a rear-mounted tank holding about 70 gallons of Macron 20-20-20, a fertilizer; T-Methyl, a fungicide; and Bifenthrin, a pesticide. Nearly 60 gallons of chemicals were spilled onto the roadway and into a storm drain before the vehicle was moved to a nearby patch of grass. The remaining chemicals continued to slowly leak from the back of the vehicle until chemical spill crews arrived on scene.
---------------------------------------------
MANCHESTER PRIVATE SCHOOL EVACUATED AFTER CHEMICAL ODOR SPREADS
Tags: us_CT, education, release, injury, other_chemical
MANCHESTER ?? A private school was evacuated and two teachers were taken to the hospital Monday afternoon after a chemical being used in the basement spread into other parts of the building.
No one was seriously hurt. The Eighth Utilities District Manchester Fire Department responded to The Cornerstone Christian School at 218 Main St. at about 12:20 p.m., Acting Fire Chief Don Moore said.
A worker had been in the basement furnace room using a penetrating oil called PB Blaster to loosen bolts, Moore said. Noticing the noxious smell, the worker tried to mask the odor with air freshener, which made the situation worse, Moore said.
Someone at the school called the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, which relayed the call to the district, he said. Firefighters evacuated about 200 students and transported two teachers to Manchester Memorial Hospital for evaluation and treatment, Moore said. Eight young students were treated on the scene for nausea and headaches and released to their parents, he said.
---------------------------------------------
CONVICTIONS, SENTENCES IN CHEMICAL DEVICE ATTACK UPHELD
Tags: us_AZ, public, follow-up, response, chlorine
TUCSON (AP) - A federal appeals court has upheld the convictions and prison sentences of a Tucson man found guilty of using a chemical weapon on a couple who were customers of his power-washing business.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday upheld Todd Russell Fries' convictions for using a chemical weapon and making false statements to the FBI.
He was accused of placing chlorine chemical devices at the home of the couple with whom he had a billing dispute in 2009.
The devices emitted a chemical cloud that forced evacuation of the neighborhood, and the appellate court's ruling said the devices had the potential to harm many people.
---------------------------------------------
LESSONS LEARNED DATABASE
Tags: us_WA, laboratory, discovery, environmental, radiation, uranium
Statement: Using the US Postal Service to return the samples did not violate Department of Transportation (DOT) regulations; however, the shipment did not come with a Battelle radioactive material (BRM) number by freight carrier to the Battelle Shipping and Receiving Warehouse (BSRW) on 6th Street where it would have been handled correctly. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) does not send radioactive samples--at any level--through the mail.
Discussion: In 2012, a PNNL staff member sent three concrete samples--one spiked with trace amounts of uranium--to Washington State University for analysis. WSU returned the results and an invoice in the spring of 2013, but not the samples. In October 2014, long after the staff member had left the Lab, WSU unexpectedly mailed the samples to a second individual at PNNL. She opened the box in her office, recognized the radiological marking, and called a Radiation Protection Technologist.
Analysis: The person who originated the sample shipment to WSU no longer works at the Lab and it is not known what expectations were communicated to WSU for disposition of the samples or whether they were accompanied by a "chain of custody" (COC) form. COC forms are used to assign sample responsibility and custody to others and can be used to set expectations for delivering return shipments to PNNL according to our protocol.
---------------------------------------------
CREW AIRLIFTED TO HOSPITAL AFTER LANDS' END CHEMICAL SPILL
Tags: United_Kingdom, transportation, release, injury, nitric_acid
Three men have been taken to hospital after being splashed by a highly corrosive chemical on-board a ship.
The UK coastguard in Falmouth and the RNAS Culdrose Sea King rescue helicopter were scrambled to assist the chemical tanker near Lands' End at 10pm yesterday.
The crew, who were travelling to Hamburg in Germany, raised a distress call when three men ?? all of whom are of Indian decent and in their mid 20s ?? came in to contact with concentrated nitric acid.
A spokesman for the UK coastguard in Falmouth said: "We sought medical advice from the Queen Alexandra Hospital in Portsmouth and they advised an immediate evacuation.
"The men were walking wounded ?? certainly one has suffered back and head injuries, one eye injuries and I am not sure about the third.
"As I am not a medic I would not like to say if their injuries are life-threatening."
Due to gale-force winds, the helicopter was unable to rescue the men at sea, instead the tanker was forced to take shelter in Mounts Bay while the crew of the Sea King lifted them off-board.
The operation finished at 3am and all three men have been taken to the Royal Cornwall Hospital in Truro for treatment.
---------------------------------------------
FIRE AT EXXONMOBIL BEAUMONT CHEMICAL PLANT PUT OUT
Tags: us_TX, industrial, fire, response, unknown_chemical
BEAUMONT -
At about 5:45 a.m. Monday ExxonMobil says a fire at it's Beaumont chemical plant is out. According to an ExxonMobil spokesperson everyone is accounted for and no one was hurt.
The fire started around midnight Monday when a vapor release from a propylene line caught fire.
Spokesperson Lee Dula says the fire at the plant off Madison Ave. caused some of the workers in the chemical plant to be moved to alternative locations. Some workers were allowed to go home. However all personnel are being told to report for their scheduled shifts and check in with their supervisors.
He adds ongoing air monitoring continues to indicates no impacts to the community.
---------------------------------------------
Ralph Stuart
secretary**At_Symbol_Here**dchas.org
Secretary
Division of Chemical Health and Safety
American Chemical Society
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